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Friday, May 31, 2013

My computer is up and running! I’m so happy about that—you have
no idea. I really dislike working on laptops, I don’t know why. Well, I guess
it’s because I have a really huge monitor to work on and that’s what I’m used
to. But it feels so good to be able to work on my own computer with all of my
own programs and such. Over the Memorial Day weekend I was in Big Bear with my
boyfriend. We were in this awesome cabin, owned by one of his friends, and the
weather was so perfect. On Saturday, a few girls and I went shopping in the
village and I found this little crafting nook at one of the stores there, and I
found this multi-colored hemp twine. I thought it was a great price so I
purchased a few, and I thought I’d used them to wrap my packages. So far I love
how they look. What do you think? While I was at that store I asked some of the
locals if they knew of any mom and pop craft stores I the area but sadly there
weren’t any. When we came back from Big bear I thought I would head over to
Muskatels in Downtown Los Angeles to pick up a few new shades of satin ribbon
and I love the new colors I picked up. Can’t wait to use them, and update the ‘colors’
in my shop options. Speaking of new colors, hehe, I went to Michaels a few days
ago to pick up some stuff for a custom order I’m working on and I thought I’d
treat myself to two new Copic Markers. I got colors: G12 (Sea Green), and C3
(Cool Gray, No.3). I’ve wanted the Cool Gray color for some time now, and I’m
so excited to finally have it! So I can color in all my white fur critters,
hehe. Overall, I’m just happy to be back in blog land—it seemed so lonely not
being able to blog. Is that weird? Lol.

Friday, May 24, 2013

I thought today would be a great day to bring back my 'Card of the week' posts' because my computer is still down and I don't have a way to edit photo's at home anymore (until my computer is fixed). I made this card during the week and I had to wait until today to edit it on my boyfriends computer. Even though I've been feeling a bit stressed because my computer is totally dead, I still managed to find some peace while creating this card. I used the newly released 'Blue Skies' stamp set by Lawn Fawn and the matching dies, too. I seriously had so much fun making this card, and for some reason it's my favorite! At the beginning of the week I purchased some new distress inks and used them to create the blue sky in the background. I also used a masking technique with the clouds, and a tone on tone look by using the same distress ink to add the stars. I think I'm going to save this card for the new craft room I'm designing for myself. I'd like to have a shelf of all the things I can make on display! Let me know what you think of this card, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Have a great weekend.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

I created some mini journals for the Lawn Fawn blog and I thought I'd also share them here on my blog as well. They're super cute and great for gift giving. You can click here to view the entire tutorial on the Lawn Fawn blog. If you have any questions you can let me a comment and I'll get back to you asap! However, I'm also going to be making a Youtube video showing how I make these as well. That should be super fun! Sorry this post is late + short. My computer is down and I'm so sad about that, for now my posts' might be super lame because I don't' have my usual Photoshop editing program, and I'll be handling all posts', emails, etc. from my sisters computer or my boyfriends pc--and that means my pc time is limited because they're always giving me the side eye because I'm invading in their personal space, lol. I get it though, I'm the same way. Take care!

Monday, May 20, 2013

I made a quick video showing how I made this super cute Graduation
card, using the new stamp set named, ‘Blue Skies’ by Lawn Fawn, and the coordinating
Lawn Cuts. I think making videos of me paper-crafting is starting to become my
newest obsession, hehe. I really like making videos of my process, and I hope
that it inspires all of my readers to create something too! Well, I hope you enjoy watching how I made this card; and, don't forget to leave me a comment letting me know what you think.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Lawn Fawn recently released 7 new stamps sets and 8 new Lawn
Cuts, too! I placed my order the day they were available and received them this
past Monday. I was so excited. You all know how much I Love Lawn Fawn stamps,
and I have been looking at them on my craft table and have been WAITING for a
moment to use them, hehe. Orders have been keeping me very busy lately, and I
probably shouldn't have kept them sitting right in front of where I work—because
that’s torture, LOL. Any-who, I thought it would be fun to share each stamp set
and Lawn cut individually so you can see how cute they are, and what you can do
with them! Here we go—Stamp set, Year Two, three different ways!

I’ve created this super cute mini single layer belated
birthday card, cupcake topper, and gift bag. Cute right? You can use this mini
stamp set for so many things, and I love that it’s only $4.00. I had too much
fun making these. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Monday, May 13, 2013

I've always wanted to create a flyer that provides buyers
with a little bit of information on me and my shop; and, I finally put some
time aside to create them. I made them really quick on Photoshop, and while I
was creating the header I thought to myself, “Oh my gosh, I think I've just
created my logo” –without even trying to, hehe. In a blog post a while back I
mentioned that I hadn't create a logo yet, and that it was on my never-ending
list of ‘things to do’—but I’m super happy with it and I think I’m going to be
slapping this logo everywhere now. I’ll probably end up changing the header on
my blog as well. Anyways, back to the design, I included a tiny bit of info
about my shop, links to my blog, a link back to my Facebook page, and
invitation to come back to my shop for Christmas 2013 items, and most importantly
a 15% coupon code for return customers—which is to be used for Christmas
purchases. I've also, always wanted to offer a coupon code for return customer
purchases, and since I was making a flyer already I figured, why not add it.
Overall I’m super happy with the design of the flyer I made, and I can’t wait
to send these out with every package! Let me know what you think of them—I love
reading your comments. OH! P.S. I forgot to mention that I also created the logo font using ifontmaker--an awesome app by apple. If you don't have it yet, you NEED to get it! It's so much fun creating your own unique fonts.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Hi! Today I’m so excited to share my very first hand carved
stamp. It’s so cute, and I love that it’s large enough to create some awesome
stationary. However, it’s also a great size for decorating paper bags, wrapping
paper, and tags. This would be so cute for a handmade Rainy Day themed baby
shower, or even just a simple ‘Thank you’ or ‘just because’ card. I always love
to doodle when I’m watching T.V. (mostly during commercials). Therefore, I have
lots of other stamps on the way. Most of the designs I’m going to be creating
will be great for single layer cards, and handmade decor. When I created this
stamp I wanted to leave the rain drops hallow so that you can color them in, in any
color. If you take a look at the stationary I've created you’ll notice I used a
pastel rainbow color effect. I think it looks so cute in these light colors. In
case any of you are not into image transfer, I also have the ‘Happy Rain Cloud’
stationary set available in my shop as well. To purchase the stamp or the
stationary you can find them in my shop by clicking here. Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

I have a really fun DIY to share today! We all know someone
who is getting married, and this easy Confetti favor bag tutorial would be something
you could offer to make for a very special event. What I love most about this
DIY is how messy it gets. I think while I was cutting the confetti I found
myself stopping frequently to grab handfuls of it and making it snow, lol.
There was something very calming about it. Another great thing about making
your own confetti is you can control the color(s). You can make bags of a
single color or you can use coral and blue, purple and pink, rainbow colors,
etc. The possibilities are endless. I’m even thinking about making a bag of
metallic confetti in silver. That would AMAZING. Moreover, the tools you’ll
need for this tutorial are: Fringe
scissors (Click here to view them), and any color tissue paper. Next you simply
unfold the tissue paper, cut off about 1/3 of the tissue paper, fold it in half
and begin cutting. Once you've cut your vertical fringe, start cutting horizontally
as shown in the images below. It’s that simple. I was so amazed at how much
confetti I got with only one package of tissue.

To view how I created the favor bag and tag embellishment, view the video I've created below. It's short and sweet.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Today I have a really fun video for you! I haven’t made a
video in a while so I thought it was about time I made one; and, while I was
making this video I realized that I’ve never created a card from start to
finish on tape before. So it’s kind of exciting for me to share my design process with
you. I’m making a floral wreath card using Lawn Fawn’s, Pink Lemonade Collection kit. Their papers are so perfect for this because the collection
comes with a variety of flowers in a few different sizes and colors—and speaking
of colors. I don’t have that many ink colors so this was a great way for me to
create a vibrant eye catching wreath. The color on these papers beat ink any
day—to me at least, hehe. While I was making this I thought I’d turn it into a ‘Congrats’
card for my cousin who just had a baby. Well, enough talk! I can’t wait for you
to watch me make a card from start to finish. Let me know what you think of it I
the comments. P.S. I'm a little talky in the beginning but it speeds up, I promise.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Yay! It’s Friday once again—I’m so happy that my weekend
gets to start now, haha. Today I wanted to share this card I designed for
Father’s Day. I wanted to create a really cute Mother’s Day card as well, but I didn't have enough time to really sit down and design one—since I've been working
on orders, blog posts’, etc. But, here is my Father’s Day card! I really like
it, and I've also purchased new high quality cardstock; so, the feel is even better
than they used to be. This particular card design also comes with an
eco-friendly Kraft envelope—I’m super excited about that. This is my first design
that comes with one, and now I’d really like to offer Kraft envelopes with all
my designs but first I’ll need to find a wholesaler (because they’re pretty
expensive). Let me know what you think
of it in the comments and if you’d like to order one I have a coupon code you
can use to receive 15% off your entire order: UBLOGFRIENDS, and make sure it’s
in all caps when you enter it. Enjoy your weekend!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

On Monday, I shared a post about visiting the amazing store,
Paper Source; and, I mentioned that the reason why I stopped by that store was
because I was having lunch with my mom and sisters, in Old Town. Well, after a
day of shopping we thought it would be great to stop at Kabuki (also in Old
Town), for some Japanese food. I’d never been there before but my sisters have,
and they told me their food was delicious—so I definitely wanted to try it.
While walking over to the restaurant we found this really cute macaron shop,
Lette Macarons, and decided we HAD to taste a few of them after eating lunch,
hehe. When we were seated at Kabuki I was already in love with the vibe of this
place. We sat outside because it was a perfect sunny California day, and we
started out with some yummy California rolls and dumplings—and oh my gosh, the
sauce that the dumplings were in was so amazing! While we ate our appetizer we
placed our order and I requested the ‘Samurai Lunch special’ which consisted
of: Miso soup, beef, chicken, salad, white rice, and shrimp tempura. I was so
happy with my choice and my tummy was too, haha. After lunch, we each got a
macaron from the bakery and I tasted the Rose Water flavor and it was amazingly
delicious! If you’re ever in the Pasadena area—you need to stop at these two places.

Welcome

My name is Nicole--I'm a crafter, blogger, and shop owner. Aside from crafting I love to share fun DIYs, and other fun things that I'm working on. I also love posting daily on my Instagram page @unifyhandmade